Content tagged with "plastic"

Coffee Cups, An Unknown Quantity

12.03.2018.

Annually in the United Kingdom 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups are thrown into rubbish bins. This figure equates to 7 million each day, and enough coffee cups to circle the earth five and a half times each year. Although pretty much all of these coffee cups end up in a bin, how many of them are actually recycled?

Every year, Europeans generate 25 million tonnes of plastic waste, but less than 30% is collected for recycling. Across the world, plastics make up 85% of beach litter. And plastics are even reaching citizens' lungs and dinner tables, with microplastics in air, water and food having an unknown impact on their health. Building on the Commission's past work, the new EU-wide strategy on plastics will tackle the issue head on.

Refill Campaign: Tackling the source of plastic waste

14.02.2018.

The footage of plastic waste in our oceans and its destruction of sea life has sparked a powerful wave of activism that aims to reduce our plastic waste. Around 12 million tonnes of plastic are thrown away each year into the oceans, and this could increase ten fold in the next ten years if no action is taken. This has given new impetus to the Refill campaign.

Our addiction to plastic is creating an environmental crisis

28.07.2017.

A recent study in the journal Science Advances revealed that since the 1950’s, we have produced about 8300 million metric tons of plastic. Half of that was produced in the last 13 years alone. A million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute and the number will jump another 20% by 2021. The largest market for plastics is packaging, an application whose growth is only accelerating due to a global shift from reusable to single-use containers, the study points out. Some campaigners predict this is creating an environmental crisis that will be as serious as climate change.